donlever wrote:
Malhotra with a laser off the inside of the post one night and 3 feet wide on a breakaway the next. Doh!

Took my cousin's kid to the game, and as soon as Manny got the break, I told him: "I bet he misses the net by 5 feet."

I dunno here guys, one replay I saw looked like Manny missed the next by a few inches. It hit the boards 3 feet wide but that had more to do with where the shot originated than how much off-target it was. Are we just starting to *see* what we expect to see?

"Lunch bucket" guys like Higgins, Pahlsson, Lappy and Hansen are an integral part of any team hoping to win a cup. Their play can wear down the other team and if they add some offense it just adds insult to injury. If they finish every check against the other teams top lines and make them earn every inch of ice the other guys will begin to get frustrated and make mistakes. The bottom 6 the Canucks have is not just a bunch of plugs with little or no skill as in the Hordichuks, Johnsons, Cowans etc of the past. All are good skaters and can play with some skill.

As far RD's comment concerning no replacement for Errorhoff's offense, I believe that Edler is having a career year offensively as is Hammer. Juice's point totals are also up significantly as are Sami's. The goal was to make up that differential "by Committee" and they have achieved that.

The decline in point totals from Henrik and Daniel is not unexpected. Kesler's off season surgury played a part in that. He is only now starting to get back to the type of player we saw last year, being hard on the puck and downright nasty to play against. I think Henrik and Daniel are also being checked much tighter this year. ( Consecutive Ross trophies will do that)

The PP is a matter of adjusting and execution. IMO when they get in a PP funk it is a result of being too deliberate instead of making quick passes east-west and shooting. Henrik has to shoot more or he effectively neautralizes the ability of one of the other guys to get some time and space. Other teams are playing their guys out higher to take away the point shot. Henrik has to move into that gap and shoot or the backside winger has to break the box.

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one's mouth and remove all doubt "

Puck wrote:
I dunno here guys, one replay I saw looked like Manny missed the next by a few inches. It hit the boards 3 feet wide but that had more to do with where the shot originated than how much off-target it was. Are we just starting to *see* what we expect to see?

A lot of it is obviously tongue-in-cheek, but Manny has done very well NOT hitting the net this season.

It's not a personal dig, nor is it really a criticism of Manny, the guy almost lost an eye and isn't the same player he was last season, but he has improved since the year started. He's still great at winning draws and does some good work on the PK.

But despite his recent goal, Malhotra still has trouble getting good shots off, and his passing still leaves a lot to be desired.

Potatoe1 wrote:
The kid has been one of our most reliable blue-liners the past month and his role has quietly been expanding.

When I head people bemoaning the loss of Ehrhoff more recently, I seldom hear them refer to Tanev.

True, Tanev doesn't replace Ehrhoff's offence, but in terms of a steadying presence on defence, moving the puck up the ice and skating, Tanev more or less replaced everything else that Ehrhoff brought last year. I'd even go as far as to say Tanev is already better in his own end than Ehrhoff was.

The concern this season was whether Tanev could be a big contributor by the time the playoffs come around if either KB or Salo get hurt. We'll know for sure once the post-season starts, but as Gillis likes to say, "he's trending in the right direction."

Watching that 5 on 3, all I could think was they are trying to hide what they really want to do. That was clear watching Alex "The Swedish Larry Robinson" Edler take point shots from the blueline during the last couple of 5 on 3s. There was no Salo skating in from the red line to blast one timers from Sedin.

I then read this morning that Hank mentioned they are indeed not playing special teams like then intend because teams are scouting them for the playoffs.